Musician spreads love of guitar through lessons

Friday

Mar 13, 2009 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Omar Ramos, 14, carefully but swiftly brushed the back of his fingers downward, across the procession of strings. Quickly, his thumb flung upwards, thumping near the hole on the front of the acoustic guitar, creating the rapid rhythm of huapango Mexican music.

Jennie Rodriguez

STOCKTON - Omar Ramos, 14, carefully but swiftly brushed the back of his fingers downward, across the procession of strings. Quickly, his thumb flung upwards, thumping near the hole on the front of the acoustic guitar, creating the rapid rhythm of huapango Mexican music.

"Yes, I'm learning," Ramos said, while he took a break from a guitar lesson. "My whole family plays in church or in fiestas."

"It reminds me of Mexico," said Ramos, whose family migrated to Stockton when he was 7. "I feel really happy when I play."

The guitar has a long and revered history in the Mexican culture, whether leading songs as families spend time together in the evening, providing dance music for quiceañeras and other fiestas, or accompanying corridos that spread messages about the Mexican Revolution.

Ramos was eager to be part of that, but since his father's hours at his welding job were reduced his parents couldn't afford the lessons.

Just a few weeks ago, Ramos learned of Jose Reynaga, an English language development teacher with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and a musician, who, like Ramos, has humble roots.

Reynaga, 59, grew up in Stockton. His mother was a farm worker. His father was deported and remarried in Mexico when Reynaga was about 5. Reynaga began shining shoes when he was 11 to help his mother.

Toiling all day was hard, but he found an escape by listening to family members and friends play the guitar.

"I always wished I could play ... my mom couldn't afford it," he said. "My first guitar lesson was with my girlfriend. I was 13 years old. I first learned the chords to 'La Bamba.' "

"La Bamba," which was popularized by Chicano rock musician Ritchie Valens in the 1950s, is originally a traditional song from Veracruz, Mexico, with Spanish flamenco and Afro-Mexican rhythms. Valens' single peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard music chart in 1958.

In the years that followed, he continued to learn by watching others, eventually joining bands, and at 19 he began teaching the instrument at St. George's Catholic Church. Reynaga also played in the farm worker movement marches led by Cesar Chavez during the early 1970s.

Reynaga said he wanted to give the music opportunity to others. He spends Wednesday nights offering free guitar lessons at the recently re-opened Mexican Community Center.

"I don't want to charge," said Reynaga, who also operates a Latino music production company, Fuerza Productions, in his spare time. "Teaching is just in my heart."

The free sessions allow children such as Ramos, who otherwise can't afford them, to explore a pathway to music and are a way for the children to keep alive - and eventually pass on - their culture.

Maria Corona, 70, has listened to her husband, Angel, 66, play traditional songs on his guitar for many years.

"I love ranchera music. I like trios. I like (singer) Flor Silvestre," she said in Spanish.

Corona joined Reynaga's class last year, because she had a hard time learning from her husband. Now, she and her husband help Reynaga teach beginners.

"Jose has infinite patience and great gusto in teaching," Maria Corona said.

From Mariachi to romance, the guitar's tunes intertwine with heritage. Guitars and other western instruments were brought from Spain when its explorers colonized Mexico.

The Criollo generation that followed created a fusion of sound with elements of the Spanish sound and native Mexican traditional music.

Gallantly dressed in the traditional workman's outfit, known as the charro suit, and large straw sombreros, the musicians traveled the country for gigs, passing along stories and news about the revolution that eventually overthrew Spanish rule from one city to the other. Mainly characterized by the guitar, the music became the sounds of Mexico.

"Music is a tool," Reynaga said. "But it's also very much cultural and it's bilingual."